A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 15

Shirley is making a box of candy and stuffed dates for Myrtle. We sent also a small bag of fresh beans to her good friend where she stays and Shirley sent her little boy a little bag of popcorn. We’re sending Shirley Jean the old game, “Uncle Wiggly,” that Doris and Shirley used to play, and I made a doll outfit for the rag doll Ethel is making her. We had great fun doing it and trying it onto Ethel’s old big doll who lives here. Jack sent them a small bag of beans and Bertha put in a bag of popcorn and a toy book for Shirley Jean. 

Ina to her sister, Mable, 1933

Ina often wrote her letters "before the blazing fire." Can't you just see her sitting near the hearth, a shawl about her shoulders, writing her Christmas cards and notes? 

Dorothy Dobson, c.1951

And speaking of fireplaces, I couldn't resist posting again this photo of my mother, Dorothy Dobson, sitting in front of the living room fireplace at our Orofino home. Too bad there isn't a fire, but it's a nice photo anyway.

 

In real time, we have regional snow and cold and plenty of it, but Mike went out this morning and had no problems in the Magnum. High tomorrow in our valley is supposed to be 19 -- 12 on Saturday. 

Back to work -- Christmas is coming, you know. KW

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 14

As related in the previous two posts, Grandma Ina spent Christmas with her second daughter, Myrtle (or Lynn, as she preferred to be called in those days), in Portland. This paragraph in the Chronicle of the Christmas of 1946 was written by my Aunt Lynn:

Our Christmas was most unusual in that we had never been together – just us two – at this season. In the early afternoon we went out for a breath of fresh air (very fresh and cold). It was a bright sunny day, one of the many we have had all this holiday week. Then we got dinner, set the table in the living room, and added candles to aid the evening light. We had the roast chicken with all the usual trimmings, and ended with the fruitcake from the girls in Seattle. We had nuts and a box of chocolates on the side. This for me was a very novel and happy Christmas, and Mamma [Grandma Ina], too, enjoyed everything different in the change of scene.

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 13

This post is a continuation of yesterday’s. On Sunday, December 22, 1946, my grandmother, Ina Dobson, traveled by train from Orofino, Idaho, to Portland, Oregon, arriving there Monday morning. She rested that day, but the next day, she and her daughter Lynn (Myrtle) shopped downtown Portland for supplies for their Christmas dinner.

We got a small young chicken, ripe olives, cranberries, huge filberts, and some holly sprigs to add to our supplies at home, making it complete. About noon we went into Mannings (tea and coffee importers) who have a fine lunch room and serve their famous coffee. We had Scotch scones and coffee at a little table and rested. Got home about 3:30, tired and happy. I had captured the Christmas spirit which had eluded me for some time past.

That evening we set up the tree and put boughs and sprigs of holly on the pictures and curtains. The tree had too many boughs for our purpose and so it furnished decorations too. We made the tree gay with stars, beads, and silver rain, then tied tiny packages and red bows of cellophane on to complete the picture. Other packages were piled around the tree which stood on the table in front of the windows in the living room. We retired late, and wished each other a Merry Christmas, for it was after twelve before we slept.

We arose late next morning, and after a leisurely breakfast and some clearing of dishes, lighted the tree with old fashioned candles. After admiring it for a while, we opened our presents.

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 12

This advent visit with my grandmother, Ina Dobson (1870-1957) is not a chronological history but rather a sharing of some of my favorite Christmas passages from her writings and those of other family members. 

In the ‘30s – and probably before – Ina hosted Christmas parties for family and friends, doing her best to stretch her limited resources so that they could “all be children and have a lot of fun out of it.” But – in the course of a lifetime, things do change. By the ‘40s, Grandpa Jack was ailing, their children all lived away, and the world was at war. In 1946, Grandpa Jack died. I mention it because we all face these kinds of changes from time to time, but perhaps we can take encouragement from Ina’s “chronicle” of the Christmas of ’46.

I meant to come to Portland (OR) for Christmas, then got word to stay put till I heard further [due to the illness of family members], so I settled down to writing letters and cards, and planned to spend Christmas at June’s. Then I got a telegram to come on to Portland as soon as possible.

[Arriving at Lynn’s,] I rested that day and Lynn went out and got a nice little tree, just right for size and shape, and for only 25 cents, much to our surprise. Next day was fine and sunny and we went down town to do our last shopping. The shops were beautiful with all sorts of gay and clever Christmas displays. The markets were a dream of luscious foods, and I wished for Dickens to describe them for me; turkeys, geese, ducks, fat chickens, beef roasts and cuts of all kinds, hams, bacon, pork roasts and chops, cranberries as big as cherries, bags and baskets of nuts (the biggest walnuts and filberts I ever saw), jars of mincemeat, pies, cakes, and cookies of every sort, baskets filled with the finest fruits, and all wrapped in colored cellophane. I kept falling behind to admire things, while Lynn went blithely on her way among the happy people.

 

A HOLIDAY VISIT WITH INA -- DAY 11

My parents sent this card to piano students and grandchildren, c. 1965

Yes, I know this is a dog.

The moon was shining in brightly and lighting the tree and everything else in sight. One of Earle’s packages contained two fresh coconuts and a small tin of salmon -- “For Mr. Teeny and family from Pappy and Mammy.” “Mr. Teeny” is a black cat they brought home last spring and proved to be a “Mrs.” Now she has four very pretty black kittens like herself. They had been regaled on beef liver already and so had Dick [the dog]. Dad had wished all the stock a Merry Christmas and made them happy with extra feed of oats, etc., as he always does. Later we opened the salmon and gave Teeny a bit wishing her a Merry Christmas, then a second bit with instructions to pass the greetings along to her family. After that we gave them all some. Ina Dobson, Christmas 1932

Farm kittens in '20s

The cats in the picture are not black, so obviously not "Mr. Teeny," but we see that the family kept cats and enjoyed them. KW